Tag Archives: sirte

Wildly conflicting reports out of Moammar Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte say he’s been at least captured this morning. Some sources say he’s been killed. Either way, we might take it for good news as the town has erupted in a hail of celebratory gunfire.

Conflicting reports surfaced Thursday that deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is dead or has been captured. Deafening celebrations erupted in Tripoli, but none of the reports could be independently verified.

Gadhafi was killed, AbdelHakim Bilhajj, head of the National Transitional Council’s military arm in Tripoli announced live on Al-Jazeera Arabic Thursday. Gadhafi’s death was also reported by National Transitional Council television station Al-Ahrar. It did not cite a source.

A cell phone photograph distributed by the news agency Agence France Presse appeared to show the arrest of a bloodied Gadhafi. CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the image.

Gadhafi’s capture was also reported by Libyan television, citing the Misrata Military Council.

Here’s the cell phone pic:

UPDATE: The tide of reports has swung in favor of Gaddafi being killed. The New York Times:

Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the former Libyan strongman who fled into hiding after rebels toppled his regime two months ago in the Arab Spring’s most violent uprising, was killed Thursday as fighters battling the vestiges of his loyalist forces wrested control of his hometown of Surt, the interim government announced.

Al-Jazeera television showed what it said was Colonel Qaddafi’s corpse as jubilant fighters in Surt fired automatic weapons in the air, punctuating what appeared to be an emphatic and violent ending to his four decades as the self-proclaimed king of kings of Africa.